Bounce
by Stunna13
Summary: Bouncepaw is a young apprentice, trying to make the most out of life as a member of ThunderClan. But what happens when she starts to have feelings for someone she shouldn't and discovers lies that her Clan has kept secret from her, her entire life?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and it seemed like the entire forest had taken the day off from their Warrior duties to enjoy the sunny day. Nothing could have ruined this peaceful day...

Other than two ThunderClan cats that is.

"You're just a mousebrain!" the small, white apprentice yelled as she stalked through the forest. Her amber eyes were dark and her fluffy tail was lashing back and forth.

"I'm not the one who nearly got hit by a monster!" the gray warrior retorted.

"Excuse me but did you not _see_ the rabbit I was chasing? It could have fed all three of Fernclouds kits with more to spare!" the apprentice scoffed, "I'm just thinking of my Clanmates here, Ashfur."

Ashfur whirled around, looking angry. "This is the third time in the past two moons, Bouncepaw!" he roared. The patrol of cats behind them sniggered at how riled up they made each other but knew from experience to stay out of it. "Here's a tip: stop chasing prey you can't catch!"

Bouncepaw grumbled under her breath as she lashed her tail. "I could have caught it."

Ashfur snorted. "How? Half the time, you can't even catch a mouse."

"At least I try!" Bouncepaw snapped, "You don't even _attempt_ to catch anything bigger than a mouse! Explain how you're going to feed the Clan with that?" she motioned to his empty jaws.

Ashfurs face contorted in confusion as he looked around for what she was nodding at. "With what?"

"Exactly."

Ashfur let out an angry growl as he fell in line with his amused Clanmates. "I never understand anything she says." he muttered.

Bouncepaw, feeling victorious, trotted up to her brother and sister. They both held prey in their mouths and whenever they tried talking, it came out muffled.

"You guys agree with me, right?" she asked. Whitepaw, her sister, nodded eagerly while her brother, Swiftpaw, simply scoffed. Bouncepaw narrowed her eyes at the brown and white tom. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, just as the reached camp.

Swiftpaw dropped the sparrow on the food pile and turned to his sister. "That rabbit wouldn't have fed as many as you claimed it would have. It was skinny and there would only be enough for Ferncloud and maybe two of her kits. It's not worth dying over."

Bouncepaws ears drooped, "I didn't realize I was chasing it onto the Thunderpath."

Whitepaw cocked her head, thoughtfully. "Brackenfur says that as a Warrior, you must be aware of your surroundings."

Bouncepaw sighed as she plopped down on the ground, next to her littermates. She hadn't been an apprentice for very long, but already she had ran onto the Thunderpath, got caught by a WindClan patrol for being on her territory and fallen into the river at RiverClan while trying to leap for a robin. Her mentor, Ashfur, had saved her from every situation and he was getting sick of it.

"Brackenfur would have my tail if I said half the things you do." Whitepaw added and Bouncepaw looked up. "The sun hasn't even set and you've already called him a mousebrain, bad hunter, lazy..."

"This morning she called him a fat, old elder." Shrewpaw added as he came to join them. "I don't understand why you two don't just get along. I mean, he is your mentor."

"Look at him!" Bouncepaw motioned to Ashfur as he talked casually with Thornclaw. "How can you not hate him?"

"Easily." All three cats said in unison. Ashfur was a nice cat, he was loyal and friendly but Bouncepaw always seemed to bring out the worst in him. It wasn't like she was malicious, either. The two were simply not a good match and no one knew what Firestar was thinking when he made the two apprentice and mentor.

But then again, the two barely even knew each other back when she was getting apprenticed. They didn't know how much havoc they would bring to each others lives.

"Let all cats, old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath Highrock for a Clan meeting." Firestars voice rang out. Bouncepaw looked up curiously as she followed her friends to Highrock. "As you all know, tonight is the Gathering. There has been recent ...tension with WindClan involving some of our apprentices journeying onto their territory."

Bouncepaw turned away as a few of her Clanmates shot her glares. Firestar continued, "Because of this, I expect every apprentice to stay close to their mentor and under no circumstance should anyone try to pick a fight. This is a time for peace."

Bouncepaw knew that the message was mainly meant for her, Ashfur, Swiftpaw and her father, Cloudtail. Her and her family tended to get a little snappy whenever they were offended and her brother often used his claws to solve his problems. As for Ashfur, it would just be plain embarrassing if the other Clans saw mentor and apprentice arguing.

"Thornclaw, Brightheart, Brackenfur, Ashfur, Rainwhisker, Sootfur, Whitepaw, Bouncepaw, and Shrewpaw, you will be attending the Gathering." Firestar finished before leaping off Highrock. Bouncepaw turned to her sister excitedly.

"That's not fair." Swiftpaw grumbled, unsheathing his long claws and digging them into the dirt. He turned to Bouncepaw, "Why are _you_ going but I'm not?"

"Because I haven't gone to a Gathering yet." Bouncepaw snapped, narrowing her amber eyes, "I was ill last moon when I should have gone."

"It doesn't mean you should be able to go to a Gathering when you've been causing trouble all moon!"Swiftpaw lashed his tail. "If I were leader, only those _worthy_ would be able to go!"

Bouncepaw stared at him in shock, "You're supposed to be happy for me. There will be other Gatherings." But Swiftpaw had already turned away and stormed towards the two other apprentices who weren't attending either.

"Don't worry about him. He's been acting kind of weird lately." Whitepaw shrugged. "I think he thinks he could run ThunderClan better than Firestar can."

Bouncepaw purred, knowing that was true. Swiftpaw was always saying how if he were leader, things would be different. Some of his ideas were a little morbid too and if he ever actually managed to become leader, ThunderClan would turn into a bloodthirsty Clan full of only the strongest as Warriors and the weak as slaves.

Bouncepaw was sure it was just a phase. Swiftpaw wasn't dangerous and never would be.

"Did you hear about what he said about no picking fights, Bouncepaw?" The white apprentice turned around to see it was her _favorite_ cat in the entire Clan!

"Yeah, I'm so glad he brought that up, Ashfur. It would be so embarrassing if you started a fight with WindClan. Cats would start to doubt your mentoring skills." Bouncepaw mewed.

"You're hilarious." Ashfur spat bitterly. "But I'm serious. If so much as one sarcastic remark comes out of your mouth, you're cleaning the elders for ticks for a moon."

Bouncepaw shuddered at the thought. Nothing against the elders, but it kind of smelled a little...strange in there.

"Now go get some sleep. We can't have you falling asleep at the Gathering." Ashfur added just before he padded away. Bouncepaw opened her mouth to argue when she realized that (for once) he was right. She was already exhausted from hunting patrol and Bouncepaw wasn't exactly known as 'friendly' when she was tired.

Sighing, Bouncepaw made her way to the apprentice den.

* * *

Cats filled the clearing, all happily chatting as they waited for the Gathering to begin. Bouncepaw had never been to Fourtrees before but it was more than she expected. The moon was just above the trees, sending light down to the cats gathering around.

"Wow." Bouncepaw whispered. she followed Ashfur as he led her to a group of ShadowClan and RiverClan cats. WindClan hadn't arrived yet.

"Greetings Ashfur," a small brown tom nodded his head. A dark gray apprentice was standing by his side with an easy grin on his face.

"Hello Oakfur, Smokepaw." Ashfur nodded his head to the two ShadowClan toms.

"Is this Bouncepaw?" the pretty silver RiverClan cat asked. She looked really familiar but Bouncepaw couldn't quite tell where she knew her from. Maybe she passed her on border patrol?

"Yes, this is my...lovely apprentice." Ashfur snorted and Bouncepaw shot him a glare. Wasn't he the one to say no sarcasm? Hypocrite.

"I'm Bouncepaw." she purred thickly, "Ashfur is just the most understanding and compassionate mentor I could ask for. Really, we _never_ disagree about anything."

Bouncepaw and Ashfur shared a moment where they both glared at each other with so much hate it could burn down the whole forest.

"Ookay..." Smokepaw muttered, snapping them out of their glaring contest, "Now that we've past awkward."

"I'm Feathertail, by the way." the silver she-cat added sweetly.

Oh.

Now Bouncepaw knew where she knew her from. Feathertail was Graystripes daughter who had chosen to live in RiverClan, her mothers Clan. FeatherClan looked a lot like her father. Even though her fur was lighter and her eyes were blue while Graystripes were amber, they both had the same air of confidence around each other and facial features.

"It's nice to meet you." Bouncepaw replied.

"Let the Gathering begin." The WindClan leader, Tallstar, announced. Bouncepaw was told that he was old but he looked ready to drop dead at any moment. He was big, with a long tail and ragged black and white fur that seemed to hang off of his frail frame.

"All is well in ShadowClan." Blackstar began. He was a handsome, white tom with black paws and ears. Bouncepaw was ogling him like he was a piece of prey.

Smokepaw must have noticed because he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You know, the Warrior Code says something about those kind of relationships. So should your morals."

Bouncepaw looked away in embarrassment as Smokepaw sniggered. He had definitely caught her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." he lightly nudged her.

"Oh hush." Bouncepaw couldn't help but purr as she turned back to the leaders. Blackstar had just finished, telling about how prey was well in ShadowClan and Tallpoppy had recently moved to the nursery. He also mentioned something about the Thunderpath becoming increasingly busy with Greenleaf.

Tallstar stepped forward, wrapping his long tail around his paws. "Prey was been well in WindClan and we have just welcomed Crowpaw and Eaglepaw into the apprentice den." The Clans cheered at the two toms. The slim, black one puffed his chest out and raised his head with an air of cockiness around him while his brother ducked his head a little, trying to hide behind his brother.

When the cheers died down, Tallstar continued. "We had a minor problem with ThunderClan apprentices and knowing the borders but I think it's fair to say that no harm was meant and the problem was solved." Tallstar didn't look overly upset about it and more amused than anything. And to think Firestar was worried about there being tension.

Firestar chuckled as he stepped forward, "ThunderClan has just recovered from a touch of Greencough that affected a few of our apprentices. But everyone recovered and are back to their duties."

"Did you catch it?" Smokepaw asked and Bouncepaw nodded. Her, Shrewpaw and Spiderpaw had all caught it and spent their time in the medicine cat den. Spiderpaw recovered in time for the last Gathering, though.

"Prey is well and Ferncloud just had a litter of three." Firestar finished and the RiverClan leader stood up. Bouncepaw didn't know her name, unlike the other leaders.

"What's her name?" Bouncepaw whispered.

"Leopardstar. And that's her deputy," Smokepaw nodded to the bluish gray she-cat sitting underneath Great Rock. "Mistyfoot. I heard that she's part ThunderClan too."

Bouncepaw growled under her breath, "Is everyone part ThunderClan?"

"I'm not." Smokepaw added smugly and Bouncepaw scoffed.

"Good to know."

Leopardstar talked about how the heat was starting to dry up the river but never the less, prey was still plentiful. She didn't have much else to say other than that and RiverClan was as strong as ever. She really seemed like the type to rub it in everyone's face that her Clan was best.

The Gathering ended as the leaders hopped off of Great Rock. Smokepaw turned to Bouncepaw. "So how was your first Gathering?"

Bouncepaw shrugged. "Eh, it was okay. I had this really annoying tom bothering me the entire time."

Smokepaw pretended to look offended. "I thought I was keeping you company!"

"Bouncepaw." The fluffy, white she-cat turned to Ashfurs voice. He was standing beside Shrewpaw and Thornclaw. "It's time to go."

Bouncepaw turned to Smokepaw, she gave a quick nod before trotting after her Clanmates. Shrewpaw looked smug about something while Ashfur just looked annoyed. But that was usual when he was around his apprentice.

"You two looked cozy." Shrewpaw mentioned casually as they started walking back to camp. Bouncepaw looked at the tom in disgust.

"You're crazy! He's ShadowClan, if you haven't noticed." Bouncepaw retorted. She had absolutely no romantic feelings towards Smokepaw. He was a nice cat, but wasn't really her type.

"Exactly." Ashfur snapped. "It's against the warrior code to have relationships with cats from other Clans."

"Why won't you listen to me?" Bouncepaw growled, "I told you nothing happened!"

"Bouncepaw, nobody is accusing you of anything." Thornclaw reassured. "We trust you when you say nothing is going to happen."

Bouncepaw let her fur lie flat. Thornclaw was a respectable warrior and he always managed to keep his calm. It's no wonder he had so much respect from everyone in the Clan. Ashfur needed to take some tips from him.

Bouncepaw fell in line with Shrewpaw while Ashfur and Thornclaw talked up ahead. "Thanks for that." Bouncepaw muttered sarcastically and Shrewpaw nudged her playfully.

"The pleasure was all mine." he purred. He had a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he led Bouncepaw farther away from the Clan. Bouncepaw looked at him curiously but didn't say anything until they were completely out of earshot of the other cats. "I went on patrol today."

Bouncepaw blinked, "Is that all you wanted to say?"

"I scented badger." That's when Bouncepaw reacted. Her amber eyes widened and she took a step back in shock. She had heard countless stories about badgers attacking and killing cats. When Sorreltail was an apprentice, she told them about how her own mother died while fighting a badger.

"What? Does Firestar know?" Bouncepaw gasped and her friend shook his head.

"No, I told Thornclaw but he said the scent was old. I told him that it was fresh enough but he just kept on saying that it was nothing to worry about." Shrewpaw explained and Bouncepaw let out a sigh of relief. "Let's go check it out."

"What? But I thought you said the scent was old?"

"In that spot. That doesn't mean anything about the rest of the territory." Shrewpaw mewed. "Think about it. Firestar will _love_ us if we save the Clan from a badger."

"I usually agree with most of your ideas but this one is just plain mouse-brained. We're going to get slaughtered!"

"We don't have to fight it! We just have to follow the scent and sees if it leads anywhere. If it doesn't, we won't even have to tell anyone about it." Bouncepaw paused thoughtfully at Shrewpaws words. He had a valid point. Plus, this could also mean Shrewpaw and Spiderpaw getting their warrior names.

"Okay, I'm in."

* * *

_The brown and white she-cat sat in her bed, five kits curled around her stomach. It was a bitter-sweet moment for the young mother. She knew that once her kits were old enough, her housefolk would give them away to live their own lives and she would probably never see her young sons and daughters. _

_"If only..." she whispered as she wrapped her tail around the smallest of the litter; a fluffy white she-cat. Two of the five kits had the same white fur and fluffy tail. The others looked more like their mother with brown fur and white chests. All but one that is, who had flaming red fur._

_"You'll never know how much I love you." she purred, licking the head of the ginger one. His pelt burned like a fire raging through the forest. He looked so much like _him_._

_One of the white kits, a tom, mewed pitifully as he struggled to get closer to his mother. The others had pushed him away as they suckled at their mothers belly. Already they showed so much promise; they showed the strength of a true warrior._

_"One day, my darlings, you will grow big and strong. You will make your family proud, just as _he_ has." _

**New story! I hope you all enjoy and drop a review! **

**If you were reading Close Your Eyes before this, I'm sorry but it's been deleted. I would have loved to continue but there was a problem with the beta reader and by the time that was sorted out, I had lost all motivation and ideas I had for the story.**

**Also, if you couldn't tell, this takes place in the old forest. It's AU, so if the forest didn't get destroyed, this is what would have happened. Except it includes my OC's, Swiftpaw and Bouncepaw.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Bouncepaw, Shrewpaw, Spiderpaw, and Squirrelpaw were the ones who all agreed to track the badger. Whitepaw didn't want to come and they didn't even bother asking Swiftpaw and Leafpaw. Swiftpaw was still angry at Bouncepaw and Leafpaw wasn't trained like the rest of the apprentices.

Squirrelpaw had argued, saying that it wasn't fair but after a little convincing, she finally agreed that not bringing Leafpaw was best.

The group of apprentices waited until everyone from the Gathering was fast asleep until they left. Shrewpaw led them out of camp and into the forest. Once out of camp, the group huddled under a tree.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Bouncepaw whispered and all heads turned towards Shrewpaw.

"I'll lead us to where I last scented the badger and from there, we follow the scent. If the scent gets fresh, we try to follow it by climbing trees." he explained and Squirrelpaw looked disgusted.

"Trees?" she scoffed. "We aren't squirrels."

"Live up to your name." Spiderpaw said easily and Squirrelpaw shot him a glare. Bouncepaw wasn't exactly close to Squirrelpaw. She found her to be a bit of a know-it-all. Bouncepaw didn't hate the leaders daughter, she just sometimes wished that they didn't have to sleep in the same den.

"Come on, let's go." Bouncepaw snapped impatiently. It would be dawn by the time they ever reached the trail if they kept up like this.

Squirrelpaw grumbled a response as they followed the brown tom. Bouncepaw fell in line with Spiderpaw while Squirrelpaw walked by Shrewpaw. "So how angry do you think our mentors will be if they find out?"

Spiderpaw snorted, "Mousefur is going to kill me. She'll probably be more understanding when she realizes that we saved the Clan from an attack. I can just imagine how Ashfur is going to react though." Spiderpaw purred in amusement.

"I'll never hear the end of it." Bouncepaw mused. Shrewpaw and Squirrelpaw heard their conversation and turned around.

"Dustpelt is going to chew me out for the next moon." Squirrelpaw added.

"I think Thornclaw will be angry but fair." Shrewpaw meowed. "But we're doing this for the sake of the Clan so even if we do get in trouble it will be worth it."

There was a moment of silence before Shrewpaw stopped walking, "Here's where I scented it."

Bouncepaw opened her mouth to breath in the air. She could smell all the usual scents of the forest and then further away was the thick, smelly Thunderpath. But underneath that was the faint scent of badger. It was a few days old but Bouncepaw knew they could trail it.

Squirrelpaw was the first one to start following the trail. She shot off in the direction of Snakrocks. The other three soon followed after the ginger apprentice as the scent got stronger and stronger. They skidded to a halt in front of Snakerocks where the scent was strongest.

"Get in the trees!" Spiderpaw hissed. At once, the four jumped into their own individual trees, scrambling to get higher. Bouncepaw was never a skilled climber and Ashfur hadn't taught her how to climb yet. She managed to get on a low hanging branch but couldn't get any higher. She balanced easily on the branch as she turned to Shrewpaw clinging to the tree next to her.

"What now? We aren't just going to stay in these trees for the rest of our lives." Bouncepaw called, trying to keep her voice low.

"We need to lure it out of its den." Shrewpaw answered. Bouncepaw narrowed her eyes at him, "Just to prove that it's actually there! If we run back to ThunderClan talking about a badger, and there isn't one, we'll just be in trouble, not heroes."

"I have an idea." Squirrelpaw announced. She tugged a thin branch off of the tree she was in and held it in her jaws. Using as much momentum that she could get in the tree, she threw the branch to a den where the smell was coming from.

There was a moment of silence when all four apprentices watched the den patiently.

"_That_ worked." Bouncepaw muttered sarcastically. Just as the words left her mouth, a small, black and white head popped its head out of the den. It took a few steps forward and sniffed the stick. It was moving fairly slowly, kind of like the elders when they had to get their own food from the fresh-kill pile. "Whoa!" Bouncepaw gasped.

The badgers eyes shot up and its angry eyes locked with Bouncepaw's and before anyone knew what was going on, it was scrambling towards the white she-cat. Bouncepaw backed closer to the trunk of the tree, unsheathing her claws and getting ready to attack the badger.

The branch was high enough that the badger wouldn't be able to reach it but it still tried clawing at the tree. Bouncepaw snickered, pulling in her claws and letting her fur lie flat. "Look at it! It's so angry!"

Suddenly, Bouncepaw felt jaws clamp around her tail, yanking her off the branch with a yelp. She hit the ground with a thud and rolled out of the way, just before the badger brought its big paws down to the ground. "Help!" Bouncepaw shrieked as she scrambled to get to her feet.

She whirled around, just in time to see the badgers claws coming towards her face. She ducked, just in time to barely miss it. Bouncepaw leapt back, only for her back to hit the tree she was just in. She shrunk back, under the badgers hateful glare and squeezed her eyes shut.

The blow never came. Bouncepaw opened her amber eyes to see the badger a few fox lengths away, battling with Shrewpaw, Spiderpaw and Squirrelpaw. They had knocked the badger over at the last second and were currently slashing their claws across its pelt. Bouncepaw jumped to her feet and shot towards the creature with unsheathed claws.

"I thought you said no fighting?" Bouncepaw snarled as she raked her claws down the badgers nose.

"Things change." Shrewpaw answered. The badger roared, shaking Spiderpaw and Squirrelpaw off of it. It swung around, ramming its entire body into a tree. Shrewpaw let go of the animal with a screech and crumpled to the ground.

Bouncepaw leapt towards the badger, her claws outstretched and her eyes glowing with a new fury. Before she could sink her sharp claws in its pelt, the badger reached up and slashed its claws across her stomach. Bouncepaw screamed in pain as she fell to the ground.

Spiderpaw and Squirrelpaw were on the badger in seconds. It roared in pain as it swiped aimlessly to try to shake the two cats. Blood had dripped into its eyes and it couldn't see a thing. Spiderpaw sunk his teeth into its tail and by then, the badger had enough.

With one final growl, it scampered away, in the direction of ShadowClan. Once it was out of sight, Spiderpaw rushed to his brothers side while Squirrelpaw to Bouncepaws. Shrewpaw wasn't hurt badly, just a little sore and a bit dizzy.

Bouncepaw was writhing in pain as she struggled on the ground, trying to shake the pain off like it was a pest. The cut wasn't fatally deep, but she had never been in so much pain before. Up until now, the worst pain she had felt was getting a thorn in her pads. Squirrelpaw leaned in closer to get a better look at the wound.

"It's deep but it won't kill her. We probably have to go see Cinderpelt-"

"NO!" Shrewpaw and Spiderpaw screamed at once. They looked at the ginger she-cat with pleading eyes.

"We'll be skinned alive if Firestar finds out we fought a badger by ourselves. Especially since someone got hurt." Spiderpaw pleaded. Squirrelpaw lashed her tail at him.

"What about being a hero?" she retorted.

"Sometimes you have to be a secret hero." Spiderpaw answered and Shrewpaw stepped forward.

"Secret meaning that no one will ever find out." He clarified, making sure that Squirrelpaw got the hint that _no one_ could know.

Squirrelpaw sighed and turned to Bouncepaw. She had stopped wiggling and was just laying on the ground with a pained expression on her face. "What do you think?"

Bouncepaw hesitated. "We can't tell them. I don't want to make a big deal out of something it I won't get badly hurt."

"Well you need a medicine cat to look at that or something!" Squirrelpaw argued and motioned to the three cuts on Bouncepaws stomach. Blood was spilling from the wound and staining the white she-cats fur, red.

"You spend a lot of time with Leafpaw!" Spiderpaw piped up. Squirrelpaw nodded, as if that was obvious.

"Well, yeah, she's my sister."

"Sooo..." Spiderpaw urged but Squirrelpaw wasn't picking up what he was laying down. "You must have picked up _something_ about treating wounds!"

"A little." Squirrelpaw muttered. "but we would still have to get in Cinderpelts den to get the herbs."

"Well, what do we need?" Shrewpaw asked.

"Cobwebs, to soak up the blood and maybe some marigold to stop infection. I don't know much more than that." Squirrelpaw listed and Spiderpaws face brightened.

"We can collect all that in the forest! I've helped Leafpaw collect marigold by the river before and I saw some cobwebs a while back!" he announced and Bouncepaw let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Shrewpaw go get the cobwebs and Spiderpaw, you get the marigold. I'll help Bouncepaw back to camp and clean the wound." The two toms nodded and raced off to go collect the medicine while Bouncepaw stumbled onto Squirrelpaws shoulder.

Bouncepaw was okay to walk, she just needed Squirrelpaws help to lean on her.

"This was a mouse-brained plan." Squirrelpaw muttered and Bouncepaw nodded in agreement. She didn't know at the time that they would be fighting a badger off by themselves and it was a miracle that all of them were alive in the first place. The only thing that saved them was the fact that the badger was old and moved slower and had weaker muscles.

They had to take a moment for Bouncepaw to rest before they started towards camp again. They were about half way there when Squirrelpaw just had to open her mouth again. "Why didn't you just climb to a higher branch? You could have saved us all the trouble!" It sounded like she had been holding it in the entire time.

Bouncepaw leaned off of her and started walking alone. The white apprentice shot the she-cat a nasty glare. "Excuse me if I only had about three moons of training, none of which involved learning how to climb a tree or fight a badger."

"I've had less training than you and I still know how to climb a tree!" Squirrelpaw retorted. "You knew from the beginning that we would be climbing trees so why did you even agree?"

"We made the plan on the spot when we were already out of camp!" Bouncepaw shrieked, her fur standing on end. Her wound burned but she ignored it. "Whatever, I'll make it back to camp by myself."

Squirrelpaw sighed, "Why do you have to be so difficult? I was just asking!"

"Accusing." Bouncepaw corrected. She stumbled forward a bit and landed on her chest, still managing to keep her belly and wound off the ground by keeping her back legs standing.

"It doesn't matter. You need help and if you keep on going on like that, you're going to give us all away." Squirrelpaw said, still with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She walked over and helped Bouncepaw to her feet and led her Clanmate to a small patch of ferns. It hid the ThunderClan nursery from anyone looking from the outside but also made a good escape out of camp.

Squirrelpaw scanned the camp quickly before helping Bouncepaw rushing across the clearing to the apprentice den. Whitepaw and Swiftpaw were curled up on their moss bedding.

Bouncepaw collapsed on her bed, rolling onto her back to reveal the three claw marks. By now, her entire belly was stained a dark red but the blood was starting to dry. "We need wet moss to clean up all this blood. I'll go get some. If you think Whitepaw or Swiftpaw is waking up then roll onto your side and pretend to be asleep."

"That won't explain why everyone else is missing." Bouncepaw whispered back.

"We went hunting but you were too tired from the Gathering." Squirrelpaw shrugged before running out of the den. Bouncepaw let out an irritated growl but didn't stop her. Squirrelpaw tended to do her own thing most of the time anyway.

Bouncepaw kept an eye on her two siblings as they slept. Swiftpaw had a habit of muttering to himself when he slept but the words were always either too slurred to hear or they were random and didn't make sense. Whitepaw on the other hand, was always curled up in a tight ball and slept silently. If anyone else had peeked a head in at the three, they wouldn't have guessed that they were littermates.

Whitepaw and Bouncepaw had the obvious similar pelt colour. The only difference being that the tips of Bouncepaws ears were a light gray and her amber eyes, instead of Whitepaws green. Even then, the two looked more like distant relatives than sisters. Whitepaw was smaller with broad shoulders while Bouncepaw had a long tail and legs and a thin frame. Swiftpaw was the same, except with sleek brown fur with a white underbelly.

Squirrelpaw returned with a ball of moss in her jaws. Without a word, she started dabbing it to Bouncepaws belly to soak up the blood from her fur. Once most of the blood was soaked up and Bouncepaws fur was only a light shade of pink, Spiderpaw had finally arrived with the marigold and was chewing it into a poultice.

Squirrelpaw carefully spread the poultice over the cuts as Bouncepaw winced. Once the initial pain faded, it actually started feeling good and her pain dulled. Shrewpaw appeared at the entrance of the den with a clump of cobwebs wrapped around a stick.

"Sorry, it took me a while to figure out how to carry it back to camp." Shrewpaw muttered and looked down at his feet. On one of his paws, there was a bit of webs still clinging to it.

Squirrelpaw wasn't very skilled as she stuck the cobwebs onto the wound. Bouncepaw strained her neck to see the wound to see that it was messily put together and it was clear that her Clanmate had very limited knowledge about what she was doing.

Yet it was there and it would hopefully be enough. With that thought, Bouncepaw rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, praying to StarClan that Ashfur wouldn't make her do anything for the next couple of days.

* * *

_"Mama, who are those strange cats who live in the forest?" the white kit asked, curling up around her mother. Her siblings heard what she had asked and gathered around as well._

_"Well, Amber, those are the Clans." her mother purred as she looked down at her three remaining kits. "There is ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan and ThunderClan."_

_Amber giggled, her eyes sparkling. "Those are silly names!"_

_"They aren't silly! They're ferocious!" Ambers brother argued, puffing out his white chest. _

_"What did the Clans do, Mama?" the last kit asked, his green eyes staring intently at his mother._

_"They fight for their survival." Mama answered and his green eyes widened even more. "From what I've heard, they live by a set of strict rules to protect their Clan and fight for its survival."_

_"Why would they need to survive when their housefolk will just protect them?" Amber cocked her head._

_"Because they don't have housefolk, little one." Mama purred. He daughter gasped in shock. She knew nothing other than what was in her own home. "They don't have anyone to feed them or give them warm blankets to curl up in."_

_"Why would they ever want to live like that?" Amber wondered._

_"They ask the same thing about us." Mama wrapped her tail around the smallest of the litter and pulled the white kit closer. "They have a leader, who runs the Clan and makes all the decisions. The leader has one cat who helps him send out patrols for hunting and protecting their borders. They're called deputies."_

_"When the deputies become leader, they get nine lives and have to choose a new deputy." Mama finished. _

_"I would never want to live in a Clan, Mama." Amber decided. "It's too confusing and I'd much rather live with my housefolk."_

_"That's 'cause you're a scaredy-cat!" her brown and white brother hissed playfully and tackled his sister._

_"Am not, Scout!" she yelled back, batting at her brother with her sheathed paws. The two kits laughed as they bowled each other around the room. Their ginger brother still sat in the same spot, looking deep in thought._

_"What are you thinking about, darling?" Mama asked, gently licking her sons head._

_"I'm going to join the Clans someday, Mama." he mewed. "I'm going to be the strongest in the Clan and maybe even become leader."_

_"Maybe you will, Rusty. Maybe you will."_

**Reviews are always welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Bouncepaw wanted to scream. That was the worst possible scenario. Not only would she be thrown around, but if she ended up on her back, someone might spot her injury. "Can't you tell him I'm tired from the Gathering?" she whined.

"We tried but he said he already let you sleep in until sunhigh. We tried to convince them that we wanted to do something more productive like cleaning the elders den but they just looked at us like we were crazy and sent us to wake you up." Spiderpaw sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, we went to sleep even later than you. We had to get rid of the rest of the cobwebs and bloody moss."

"Thanks." Bouncepaw yawned as she got on to her wobbly feet. Usually she was pretty balanced but between trying to find a comfortable position and staying upright, all while looking normal, she was teetering on her feet.

"This is what we're going to do." Shrewpaw said as he leaned in closer to the two. Bouncepaw held in a snort. _Since your plans always seem to go so well. "_When we fight, we try to make it as realistic as possible without actually landing any blows."

Spiderpaw and Bouncepaw both gave him a look that said 'that will never work.'

"Well what do you suggest we do?" he snapped, lashing his tail.

"Since you're sore and Bouncepaw has her stomach wound, we could just land soft blows and keep Bouncepaw off her back." Spiderpaw offered. "I wasn't the one thrown into a tree or mauled so I'll be the one who volunteers for demonstrating. They might get frustrated with you two but no one will be in agony."

Bouncepaw sighed. "That's the best we can do, I guess. But first, we have to get these cobwebs off. It would be awkward if they randomly fell off during training."

Spiderpaw helped peel the webs off her stomach, just in time for Mousefur to stomp into the apprentice den. "What is taking you three? We'll grow old before you finally get out of this den!"

"Sorry." The apprentices muttered, keeping their heads down. They followed her out of the den, all walking slow to keep pace with Bouncepaw. The she-cat started tipping so Shrewpaw pressed his pelt against her one side and Spiderpaw on her other.

Mousefur was already sitting next to Ashfur and Thornclaw by the time the three had only made it half way across the clearing. Everyone seemed to be watching them, wondering why three apprentices who all were usually full of energy, were leaning up against each other and moving as slow as turtles.

Squirrelpaw watched from the other side of camp, internally groaned. Could they make it more obvious?

Their mentors waited patiently but soon grew frustrated. Ashfur finally stormed over and started pushing them forward to make them go faster. "What is wrong with you three today?"

"Can't we just have a day off?" Bouncepaw whined as she tumbled forward, barely catching herself before she hit the ground.

"Uh no?" It came out as more of a question. "Have you ever heard of anyone else having a day off?"

"No..." Bouncepaw sighed. "But I thought you might be feeling nice today."

Ashfur snorted, not saying anything else. Thornclaw and Mousefur had joined their apprentices as they walked to the Sandy Hollow. Bouncepaw walked slowly with Ashfur beside her. Every so often, he would tell her to hurry up and when she tried, she would usually end on the ground.

"Bouncepaw, stop." Ashfur sighed after the fifth time she tripped over a root. She was so focused on not showing any pain and keeping a steady pace that she couldn't watch where she was going. Bouncepaw got back to her feet and turned to see her mentor sitting. He wasn't moving until he got answers.

Further ahead, Thornclaw and Mousefur glanced back but Ashfur waved at them to continue. Spiderpaw shot Bouncepaw a look but followed his mentor anyway.

"What's going on?" Ashfur asked. Under his calm exterior, Bouncepaw could see a twinge of worry, which was rare for her mentor. Partially because she usually frustrated him so much that there was no room for him to feel worried.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bouncepaw lied, looking dead in his eyes. Ashfurs blue eyes narrowed.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Ashfurs patience was wearing thin.

"Enlighten me."

"I'd like to know how one of the most balanced apprentices has turned into a stumbling mess in one night, why everyone would rather clean the elders den than battle training and why a limbless toad could probably beat all three of you in a race."

"Oh that." Bouncepaw chuckled. "We're just tired."

"Don't lie to me. I've been there before and I know for a fact that you're not telling the truth." Ashfur snapped and Bouncepaws anger flared.

"Well I am! Why can't you just trust me for once?" she hissed.

"Because I have spent nearly every day with you for the past two and a half moons and I can tell when you're lying and when you're telling the truth. And right now, you're lying." Ashfur replied. All worry had left his eyes and it was now just filled with annoyance. "I'm giving you one last chance to tell me the truth."

"The truth is that I went to a Gathering last night, didn't sleep very well and now I'm forced to battle train when I'm exhausted." Bouncepaw yelled.

There was a moment of silence before Ashfur finally let out a sigh. "I give up. If you aren't going to be honest then we'll see where that leads you but for now, you're going to battle training."

"I just told you that I'm too tired to train!" she screamed.

"You have never been too tired to do anything!" Ashfur roared back, finally losing his cool. "The first moon of training, after you spent the entire night talking with Swiftpaw, you still had enough energy to go on hunting patrol and catch a pheasant before you even mentioned that you're tired! Now you won't shut up about it but you slept until sunhigh!"

Bouncepaw fell silent. He had her there. She always worked her butt off for the Clan and the fact that she could sleep all day and still be too tired to even make it to the Sandy Hollow was suspicious, even to her.

"I'm not going to force you to go but if stay at camp and won't tell me what's really wrong, I'm going to have to tell Firestar." Ashfur finished calmly.

Bouncepaw waited a moment before sighing in defeat. "I'll battle train." Having Firestar involved was exactly what they wanted to avoid. If it meant a small period of agony, she would have to do it.

The two started walking towards Sandy Hollow again, but this time, Ashfur didn't mention anything about Bouncepaws speed or clumsiness. When they got there, Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw were already fighting.

"Just watch for now." Ashfur instructed her. Bouncepaw watched as Spiderpaw leapt over Shrewpaw, raking his paws down his back and then biting his leg lightly. "This is used for fighting badgers."

_So now I learn it_. Bouncepaw thought bitterly.

"The badger can't twist around to attack you so it gives you the advantage. It isn't used for killing but it can distract it long enough for someone else to attack. After a while, the badger will hopefully get so frustrated that it leaves or can't fight anymore." Ashfur explained. If Bouncepaw had known that earlier then maybe she wouldn't be in that predicament.

Or if she learned how to actually climb a tree. Speaking of which...

"Why haven't we gone over trees?" Bouncepaw asked. Ashfur stared at her for a moment.

"What are you talking about?" he finally snapped. His apprentice made no sense most of the time.

"Trees! Like tree climbing! What if I'm in a situation where I need to climb a tree but I can't because I don't know how?" she clarified and Ashfur thought about it for a moment.

"Well it usually comes naturally but I guess we could cover it later? But for now, you need to pay attention to this. There's a higher chance you'll come face to face with a badger, rather than get put in a life or death tree climbing situation." Ashfur said, turning back to the two who were still doing the move, only Spiderpaw was now acting as the badger.

"I don't know. I mean there could be dogs or monsters or Twolegs-"

"_Bouncepaw_!"

Thornclaw glanced up, hearing Ashfurs voice. "Are you going to join in?"

"Bouncepaw, you try the move with Shrewpaw." Ashfur ordered and Bouncepaw looked at him with pleading eyes.

"But I don't know how to do it!" she wailed. She was _not_ looking forward to this at all.

"You start of in a battle crouch." Ashfur motioned to Thornclaw and Mousefur who were now demonstrating the move. "Badgers are usually pretty low to the ground so you should be able to leap over it. When you land, you have to turn on you back legs and attack its legs. It would also help if you got in an extra back rake."

"Uh, could you repeat that?" she tried.

Ashfurs tail twitched but he repeated the directions for the second time.

"Erm...one last time?"

Ashfur let out a low growl, knowing that she was just trying to buy time. "Why don't you just do it with me and I can guide you through it?"

"Are you sure repeating it wouldn't help? But this time _really_ slowly." Bouncepaw offered but Ashfur wasn't having any of it. He was determined to make her do the move. Pleading to StarClan, Bouncepaw took the battle stance, going as low as she could without brushing her belly to the forest floor.

"Now leap over me, and when you land, twist around and bite my leg." Ashfur instructed. Bouncepaw did as he said, managing to get her jaws latched onto his leg without any casualties. "Good. Try it again, but this time, don't take so long in turning around. Every second you waste, someone could be getting hurt."

Bouncepaw nodded and tried the move again. Leaping over, she did what any other apprentice would to and landed too short. Bouncepaw tumbled forward, doing a roll before landing on her back. She groaned in frustration, knowing that she should have been able to land that.

"_What happened?" _Ashfurs snarl brought Bouncepaw back to reality. She looked confused for a moment before realizing what had happened. She had landed on her back, showing her clawed up belly to Ashfur. Bouncepaw tried clambering to her feet but it was no use. It had already been revealed and there was no going back.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" The least she could do was give it a shot.

"Tell me what happened. Now." Bouncepaw had never seen him more angry in her life. His eyes were dark and his face was twisted up in rage. If Bouncepaw hadn't directly lied to his face, not too long ago, then maybe he wouldn't have been this furious.

"Uh...I..." Bouncepaw glanced between Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw who were both standing stiff, knowing when they had gotten caught. "It's your fault for not teaching me how to climb trees!" she finally shouted at her mentor.

"If I could have gotten higher up then maybe the badger wouldn't have been able to pull me off and we wouldn't have had to attack it! So really, none of this is my fault." Bouncepaw said it all so quickly that it was a shock that Ashfur had heard any of it.

"You fought a _badger_?" Mousefur roared. Spiderpaw ducked and even Thornclaws eyes had fury in them. For good reason too. In hindsight, Bouncepaw realized that maybe keeping this fact from her mentor might not have been the brightest idea. "What in StarClans name possessed you to even consider that?"

"We didn't want to fight it..." Shrewpaw started, staring at his feet. "We just wanted to prove that there was one because no one believed me when I said the scent was fresh. We just wanted to help."

"I can't believe I let this happen." Ashfur muttered.

"Who else knew about this?" Mousefur growled out. All three immediately shook their heads. Squirrelpaw had been the one to rescue Bouncepaw and the least they could do was leave her out of the story.

"Nobody else. Squirrelpaw wouldn't have wanted to go without her sister, Whitepaw probably wouldn't have wanted to go at all and Swiftpaw was angry at me. We were the only three." Bouncepaw explained. This time, Ashfur didn't detect her lie.

"We're going back to camp, you're going to the medicine den and you two are explaining to Firestar what happened." Mousefur pointed to Bouncepaw first, with her tail, and then to the two brothers. They all nodded as they fell behind their mentors, who were talking quietly in the front.

Bouncepaw could only hear bits and pieces of what they were saying, but none of it seemed good.

"Too young...been killed..." That was Thornclaw.

"They're lucky...kill them ourselves..." Mousefur was louder.

"...Should have known...trusted her..." That one hurt the most. Ashfur had said it and Bouncepaw knew exactly who he was talking about. There was no doubt in her mind that he absolutely hated her.

They reached camp and Bouncepaw went straight to the medicine cat den, her head hanging in shame the entire time. "What can I help you with?" Cinderpelt asked from the back of the den.

"I got attacked by a badger." Bouncepaw admitted, shamefully. She rolled on her back so Cinderpelt could see the wound. She didn't react half as dramatically as Ashfur had, she merely shook her head.

"Young one these days."

* * *

_"Mama! Our housefolk are coming today! We're finally going to live with our housefolk!" Amber squealed as she and Rusty tumbled into the room. They had been waiting for this moment for days. Scout had already been sent to live with his housefolk nearly a moon ago and their other sister a few moons before that. _

_"I know, little ones." Mama purred. She was happy that her two kits would be going to live in their new homes but she also felt a hole in her heart. The rest of her kits had already gone to start their own lives and she would miss them, terribly. _

_At least the two would be together. It was a miracle that the housefolk that were adopting them both had two kits who each wanted their own pet. _

_"We're going to miss you, Mama." Amber nuzzled her mother. "Maybe if our housefolk live near you then we can come and visit! We can play in the forest and everything!"_

_"I'd like that."_

_There was a loud ringing and Amber let out another squeal. The ringing meant that her housefolk were here! "Come on, Rusty! Let's go!"_

_The two kits rushed to the front door where a Twoleg family was waiting. Their kits hollered when they saw the kittens and immediately scooped them up in their pudgy arms. Amber snuggled close to the Twoleg kit but Rusty looked like he wasn't enjoying it as much._

_"Goodbye, Mama." Amber yelled as the Twolegs carried her out the door. A similar call could be heard from Rusty, just as the door slammed shut. _

**I have the next few chapter written so I'll update maybe every two days, or maybe once a week.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Bouncepaw laid her head on her paws as she listened to Firestar's lecture. Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw sat beside her in the medicine cat den, listening to their leader scold them. Their mentors stood behind the flame coloured tom, all looking disappointed.

"I don't know what you were thinking, honestly." Firestar sighed. "What did you think would happen when you tried to fight a badger by yourself? You couldn't have expected to leave without any injuries."

"None of us got hurt that bad!" Spiderpaw whined. "I mean, sure, Bouncepaw got scratched and Shrewpaw got thrown into a tree but-"

"Shrewpaw got _what_?" Thornclaw snarled, stepping forward. Spiderpaw froze. They hadn't mentioned that little detail when telling their story.

"Uh..."

"I have had it with your lies!" Firestar snapped, lashing his tail. Few times did he actually lose his temper but this was definitely one of them. He didn't appreciate being lied to his face, multiple times. "I wouldn't have been so angry if you told us from the start but the fact that you directly lied to all of us is beyond infuriating!"

"We don't consider not telling a lie." Shrewpaw tried and Bouncepaw winced. Wrong thing to say.

"You didn't just 'forget' to tell us something, but when I asked Bouncepaw what was wrong, she plainly said that nothing had happened." Ashfur glared at the she-cat. "Getting mauled by a badger falls into the category of something."

"We're sorry." Bouncepaw muttered, finally looking up at them.

"I expected better from you three. Especially you, Bouncepaw. Your own mother made the exact same choice as you and look at what happened to her." Firestar mewed sternly. Of course Bouncepaw had heard the stories of Brighthearts scars. It ended up with her friend dying and her losing sight in one eye.

"We're just making our own mistakes that we can learn from." Bouncepaw meowed quietly.

"That's not what being an apprentice is supposed to be about." Mousefur sighed. "You're supposed to learn from your mentors so you don't make the same mistakes."

"We're trying to protect you." Thornclaw added.

Ashfur remained silent but Bouncepaw was sure he was thinking about how much he'd rather have any other apprentice than her.

"Since leaving camp proves to be such a challenge for you three, you're forbidden to leave camp for the next quarter moon. We may as well make you sleep in the nursery too since you seem to be acting like kits." Firestar decided and Bouncepaws jaw dropped.

"You can't be serious?" she gasped. Staying in the nursery for a quarter moon?

"You're right, I'm not." All three let out a sigh of relief. "But I am about leaving camp. Your mentors can decide what you will do for the next quarter moon but don't expect to see much of the forest." With that, Firestar turned and stormed out of the den. The three senior warriors followed close behind, leaving three shocked apprentices.

"A quarter moon? That's so long! What does he expect us to do? We aren't even providing for our Clan that way!" Spiderpaw yelped and his brother nodded angrily.

"This is going to push back our warrior ceremony too!" Shrewpaw whined. The two continued to complain while Bouncepaw lay there quietly. Finally, Shrewpaw noticed that his friend was being exceptionally silent and asked her what was wrong.

"Ashfur hates me!" Bouncepaw wailed. "He wouldn't even look at me and he knows that I lied straight to his face!"

"He doesn't hate you." Shrewpaw reassured. "If he didn't hate you after all those times you've snuck out, talked back and disobeyed him, he isn't going to hate you after this."

"He's just worried. I overheard him and he blames himself that you go hurt. He was talking with Thornclaw and he keeps on saying how he should have taught you how to fight badgers earlier and he shouldn't have made you do battle training when you said you didn't want to."

"Really?" Bouncepaw looked hopeful as she looked up at her friends. "Maybe I should just ask Firestar for a new mentor... One who doesn't want to kill me."

"Bouncepaw, he doesn't hate you!" Spiderpaw stressed. "Go ask him yourself!"

Bouncepaw wildly shook her head. "Are you crazy? He'll rip my tail off!"

"You have to talk to him eventually. Besides, we should probably find out what we're going to be doing for the next quarter moon." Shrewpaw urged but the white she-cat stayed put. "Bouncepaw, come on!"

"I'm injured." she whimpered. Just as she said it, Brackenfur appeared at the den entrance.

"I heard about what happened and just wanted to come check up on you." Brackenfur explained, "do you need me to get you anything?"

"Can you just tell our mentors that we need to talk to them?" Spiderpaw asked and Bouncepaw swiped him over the ear. Before she could ask the golden brown warrior to stop, he had already gone.

"Now look what you've gone and done!" she hissed. "Now we actually have to talk to them!"

"They're our mentors! Talking to them shouldn't be a bad thing!" Shrewpaw responded.

"Not when they're punishing us!" she argued. "Go get Brackenfur and stop him!"

"Too late." Spiderpaw smirked, just as Ashfur, Thornclaw and Mousefur appeared at the entrance to the den. "We were wondering what we would be doing for the next quarter moon, since we can't train or hunt."

"We decided that you will clean out the dens, help Leafpaw reorganize the herbs and help Ferncloud in the nursery when she needs help with the kits." Thornclaw spoke calmly. It seemed like none of the three were even half as angry anymore. "But each of us will have different punishments for you."

"Do you hate us?" Bouncepaw blurted, looking straight at Ashfur.

"No, Bouncepaw." Ashfur sighed. "What you did was incredibly mousebrained and we're extremely disappointed with you but hate is a harsh word."

Bouncepaw seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Any other day then she would have lashed out at her mentor for calling her a mousebrain but today, she was just glad that the rest of her apprentice training wouldn't be miserable.

Ashfur really was a great mentor and he had already taught Bouncepaw so much, but some days, they just found each other intolerable.

"Now, if that's all, we'd like to go enjoy our quarter moon that we have off." Mousefur smirked, straightening up. "I say that we go relax at Sunning Rocks. What do you two think?"

"I think that's a fine idea." Thornclaw purred, flicking his tail.

The three apprentices groaned as their mentors left. While they were banished to spend part of the moon cleaning, their mentors would be basking in the sunlight at the single most relaxing place in the entire forest. "How are we supposed to have any fun at all while we're stuck in camp?" Shrewpaw whined.

"We'll find a way." his brother answered, optimistically.

"No we won't." Shrewpaw growled out.

"Challenge accepted."

"Oh hush up, you two." Bouncepaw muttered. "Why don't you go exaggerate our badger hunt to Swiftpaw and Whitepaw or something? I just want to sleep."

"Fine. We'll go, grumpy." Spiderpaw teased, flicking the white apprentice over the ear with his tail. "We'll come visit you later, once you wake up, okay?"

"Okay." Bouncepaw grumbled, looking away and closing her eyes. Her stomach hurt, she was exhausted and she would soon be bored for a quarter of a moon. Oh how she wished she hadn't agreed to Shrewpaw's stupid plan.

* * *

_"Rusty, this is amazing!" Amber gasped as she ran around the room. Their housefolk had an entire room dedicated to their new pets. Scratching posts, blankets and toys filled the room and four bowls sat in the corner; two of them full of food and the other two full of water. _

_"We're so lucky." Rusty mewed a little less enthusiastically. He sniffed at one of the scratching posts before raking his claws down it. He then climbed up it to the little, empty room at the top and climbed into it. It was right near the window so he stared out of it, watching the activity outside of their new home._

_"Come on Rusty! Let's go explore!" Amber bounced. _

_"I think I'm going to stay here today." Rusty answered, "I like it here. Tomorrow I'll come."_

_"You're so boring." Amber grumbled as she padded out of the room. Rusty was much more calm than her, but he was also ambitious and determined. When he set his mind to something, nothing could stop him. Sometimes, he just liked to have a moment to relax, though._

_Amber, on the other hand, was much more energetic. She always seemed to be getting into trouble and always had something to explore._

_Amber snuck past her new housefolk who were talking in their strange tongue, in the kitchen. She reached an open window and after a few tries, she finally leapt onto the windowsill. There was a potted plant just below the window, so she hopped out and landed on the dirt in the pot._

_She was free! For now, at least. All she wanted to do was wander the neighborhood and meet other cats. She started trotting down the rock path until she reached the Thunderpath. She had never seen one before but Mama had told her stories about them._

_She said that they were dangerous and that Amber should always avoid it if she ever came across one. This one, didn't seem to be very active, though. _

_Listening to Mama's words, Amber turned and trotted alongside the Thunderpath. She didn't want to stray too far from her new home so she walked until she reached a yard with Twoleg toys scattered across the grass. Amber cocked her head as she walked up to a strange looking one._

_It had the same paws as the car she had just travelled in, except they were smaller and had strange, hard vines on the inside. Amber sniffed at the strange chain collars on the thing and cautiously opened her mouth. She tried to sink her teeth into the chain but it was hard and cold._

_"Hey!" Amber looked up to see another kitten, a little older than her, storming towards her. He was white with gray patches on his back and ears and the same amber eyes as Amber. "What are you doing?"_

_"What's this?" she ignored his question and flicked her tail and the strange Twoleg thing._

_"It's called a bike." the tom hissed. "Now, get off my territory!"_

_"You know, you don't have to be so rude!" she snapped, wrapping her tail around her paws. "I just wanted to make new friends!"_

_The tom paused. He didn't see anything wrong if she just wanted to be friends. "My name is Cheshire." _

_"I'm Amber." the white kitten purred and touched noses with her new friend. _

_"_Kitty! Kitty, where are you?_" Amber heard the voice of her housefolk calling._

_"I have to go. Meet me here tomorrow and we can play!" Amber smiled as she ran off. She hopped onto the pot and climbed into the open window like before, leaving Cheshire alone in his yard._

**Blah, short chapter! Anyway, I love feedback!**


	5. Chapter 5

Bouncepaw grumbled under her breath as she finished bringing all the soiled moss into a pile. Fernclouds kits sure were messy. The apprentice had to change every piece of moss in the entire nursery because of those three. Spiderpaw padded up with Shrewpaw, gathering all the moss to dispose of.

It had been a quarter moon and now she was finally free of those retched chores. The best part was that Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw would be having their warrior ceremony today. Even though they did something that they really shouldn't have even thought of doing, the brothers still managed to chase off a badger and that was proof enough that they were deserving of being warriors.

When Squirrelpaw had heard about this, she wasn't so happy. The leader's daughter was around the same age as Shrewpaw and Spiderpaw, maybe a few moons younger. She had grumbled for days that she helped fight the badger too and she wasn't getting her warrior name.

"They don't know you helped." Bouncepaw countered.

"And who's fault is that?" Squirrelpaw snapped. Bouncepaw rolled her amber eyes and flicked her tail in annoyance. They had lied to the leader about Squirrelpaw not being involved so that she wouldn't have to be punished but now it looks like she would rather have been banned to camp as well.

But that had been a few days ago and all Bouncepaw cared about was her friends who were now standing next to their leader as Firestar called the Clan to a meeting.

"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your lives?

Shrewpaw nodded eagerly while Spiderpaw remained calm and called out a clear, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Spiderpaw, from this moment forward, you will be known as Spiderleg. StarClan honors your courage and enthusiasm." Firestar rested his head on Spiderleg and he in turn, licked the ginger toms shoulder.

"Shrewpaw, from this moment, you will be known as Shrewclaw. StarClan honors your determination and initiative."

"Shrewclaw! Spiderleg! Shrewclaw! Spiderleg!" ThunderClan hollered as the two new warriors hopped away from Firestar to be crowded by their Clanmates.

"Congratulations, Shrewclaw." Bouncepaw touched his nose lightly while Spiderleg was busy talking with Mousefur. "I'm expecting a nest by you two when I become warrior!"

Shrewclaw snickered. "_If_ you become warrior!" he corrected.

"Of course we'll become warriors, we're the strongest apprentices in the Clan." Swiftpaw interrupted as he and Whitepaw approached. It felt like Bouncepaw barely saw her brother and sister anymore. Swiftpaw had quickly forgiven her and Whitepaw spent some of her free time with Bouncepaw but apprentice duties often got in the way.

The three weren't very close anyway. Bouncepaw and Swiftpaw had always been a little jealous of how much more attention Whitepaw got from their parents and for the first few moons of their lives, that turned them bitter against their sister. As for Swiftpaw and Bouncepaw, the two just didn't see eye to eye over everything.

But they still loved each other and they were still the best of friends, they just weren't as close as most littermates were. Spiderleg and Shrewclaw were basically the same cat and Bouncepaw swears that Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw shared the same mind. It was like they always knew what the other was thinking.

"So full of yourselves." Spiderleg smirked at Swiftpaw, bringing Bouncepaw out of her daze. "Then explain, oh great one, why you three aren't the ones becoming warriors today."

There was a pause before Bouncepaw answered. "It's obviously because we're such great apprentices! Firestar would be lost if he didn't have someone as good at cleaning dens like us!" she mewed confidently. Ashfur, who was standing nearby, snorted and shook his head.

"Have something to add?" Bouncepaw scowled at her mentor, lashing her tail. After she finally got it through her head that Ashfur didn't absolutely hate her, she turned back to her regular, bratty self around him.

"Bouncepaw, the only time we can actually get you to clean anything is when we have Firestar force you to." Ashfur chuckled. "And even then, you barely clean it."

"You can't barely clean something." Bouncepaw argued. "It's either clean or it's not!"

"Tell that to the piles of twigs swept underneath the bedding." he countered.

Bouncepaw hung her head in embarrassment as everyone around her started laughing. That was exactly what she, Spiderleg and Shrewclaw had been doing for the past quarter moon. Unfortunately, Ferncloud had felt the twigs poking into her back and told Ashfur.

"Anyway, we should probably go get ready for tonight." Shrewclaw excused themselves. Just as he said it, Cloudtail and Brightheart padded up to the group.

"Have fun with that." Cloudtail scoffed, "I'll be enjoying my nights rest while you two have to stay up all night."

Brightheart flicked her tail in amusement as they watched the two brothers walk away, looking slightly more glum than before. She turned to her three kits with a proud look on her face. "One day, that will be you."

"If only it would come sooner." Swiftpaw grumbled under his breath. "I don't think I'll ever miss cleaning out the elders den."

"It's just one of the many duties of being an apprentice, Swiftpaw." Cloudtail answered easily as he licked his paw. "We've all had to do them."

"I seriously doubt that Firestar had to clean out that stupid den as much as me." he snapped back. Bouncepaws ears twitched upon hearing this. She agreed with her brother, completely. It seemed like every day, they were doing less and less of hunting and battle training and more chores.

"Soon enough, it will be over." Ashfur reassured the apprentice.

The two parents seemed to ignore their sons last comment and instead, focused their attention on Whitepaw, who was sitting quietly beside Bouncepaw. "You'll be a fine warrior, _Whitepaw_." Brightheart purred.

Bouncepaw visibly flinched at her mothers words and Swiftpaw narrowed his eyes. Did they only believe in one of their kits?

"Maybe even leader." Cloudtail added, completely turning his back on Swiftpaw and Bouncepaw as he fawned over the pretty white she-cat. "Whitestar sounds right."

Ashfur glanced over at Bouncepaw and Swiftpaw, trying to judge their reactions. Bouncepaw looked deflated and a little hurt while Swiftpaw stood tall and motionless. His amber eyes could only be described as cold. Whitepaw, on the other hand, had her chest puffed out and was basking in all the praise.

"I'm going hunting." Swiftpaw snapped suddenly and stormed off. Bouncepaw watched him leave, but didn't follow.

"How about I teach you how to climb trees now?" Ashfur asked his apprentice. She nodded, following her mentor out of the camp and into the forest. They decided to go to the Great Sycamore, since it had a lot of branches and it was big enough that they could both easily fit on.

"Climbing is really easy and a necessity for a ThunderClan warrior. All you do is dig your front claws in the bark and push off with your hind legs." Ashfur explained just as they reached the Great Sycamore. he easily demonstrated it before landing gracefully beside Bouncepaw. "You try."

It was a lot easier than Bouncepaw expected. At first, she couldn't get her claws in the right spot and ended up falling a few times but by the end of the day, she had successfully climbed nearly three foxlengths. Bouncepaw had a smug grin on her face as she trotted beside Ashfur.

* * *

_"So you've lived with these housefolk for your entire life?" Amber asked and Cheshire nodded. She wasn't quite so young anymore and her and Chseshire had grown up to become close friends, maybe even something more. It wasn't like Amber could spend any time with her brother anymore, he was always disappearing, to go into the forest._

_"I can't remember a time when I wasn't with them. I don't even remember what my mother looked like." Cheshire explained. He didn't look saddened by it, he just spoke like it was just the way things were. Amber couldn't believe how strong he was being. She didn't know what she would do without Mama's stories and lessons. "But don't worry about it, I'm just glad I have you."_

_Cheshire nuzzled Amber with a purr. They truly did love each other and it was amazing of how close they had become. "I'm glad I have you too, Cheshire." Amber responded, her eyes sparkling. "Never leave me."_

_"I promise." Cheshire purred._

_He really did mean to keep that promise, but fate doesn't always work the way we'd like it to._

**A short, terrible chapter! I'm so sorry :/**


	6. Chapter 6

**I decided I'm going to stay up all night tonight to try and update all of my stories! That's five stories that need updating! Oh well, it will be good to get some writing done. Anyway, I hope you all thoroughly enjoy this chapter.**

"You're so indecisive! Just choose a place!"

"It's not that simple, Bouncepaw!

"How? You have two options! It's not a life or death decision!"

"You do not know how infuriating you are, do you?"

"That's enough!" Firestar snapped as he stepped in between the two bickering ThunderClan members. He had let their argument go on long enough and finally, he was sick of listening too their irritating voices. He liked both cats separately, but together, it was like him and Tigerstar all over again. "It's a hunting spot, it's nothing worth fighting over! Now, if either of you had used your heads instead of your mouths, you would have decided by now."

"But he's being ignorant!" Bouncepaw stamped her foot and Ashfur rolled his eyes.

"And you're being childish. Be quiet." He snapped and Firestar sighed in frustration. It was like they were going in circles here. When he was choosing a mentor for Bouncepaw, he wanted someone young and who could relate to her but who could also be serious. He thought Ashfur was the perfect match...until they actually started.

Now, Firestar was contemplating giving Bouncepaw a new mentor. It wasn't fair to either of them, but it sure would be a whole lot easier.

"Look, we'll go hunt by the WindClan border. It's a nice day out and chances are, a rabbit or two will run across the border." Ashfur sighed and Bouncepaw lashed her tail. She thought it was a stupid decision; firstly, she was a slow runner and not to mention the fact it could cause trouble if WindClan saw them 'stealing' their prey.

Bouncepaw stomped after her mentor, her amber eyes were dark with anger. Everyone knew the young apprentice had a short temper and that Ashfur was always the spark who seemed to ignite it. She usually voiced her opinions very loudly and unpleasantly but Bouncepaw decided she might try something new for once; shutting up and doing as she's told.

But that doesn't mean she has to like it.

There were two other cats on the patrol, one being Leafpaw who would be collecting herbs while they were hunting and the other was Dustpelt. Bouncepaw wasn't particularly friends with either of them so she simply followed behind her mentor, doing her best to not lash out whenever he so much as stepped on a twig.

They reached the WindClan border and Bouncepaw couldn't take it anymore. "So what now? Do we just wait until a rabbit hops along the border? I don't even think they're stupid enough to run straight into a group of cats."

Ashfur lashed his tail. "It's been no more than a heartbeat, Bouncepaw. Be patient."

"Patience catches no prey." she huffed.

"Patience catches _all_ the prey." Dustpelt corrected and Bouncepaw rolled her eyes. He was just standing up for Ashfur since he was doing the nasty with Ashfur's sister.

"Whatever, I'm going with Leafpaw to help her collect borage or something." Bouncepaw grumbled and Ashfur sighed. Even though he shouldn't be letting Bouncepaw defy him like that, he figured that they both needed some time away from each other to cool down. They both got so riled up over the simplest of things and it was tiring for everyone.

Bouncepaw led Leafpaw away, even though Leafpaw was the one who knew where all the herbs were in the forest. "I hate him!"

"Bouncepaw, I think you might be overreacting a little. Ashfur isn't that bad." The thing with Bouncepaw though, was that no matter who was talking to her and what they were saying, whether it be reasonable or not, she had her mind set and it wasn't going to change just because of someone else's opinion. "Maybe you just like Ashfur and you don't want to admit it to yourself."

Both cats stopped abruptly; Leafpaw hadn't meant to say that part aloud and Bouncepaw was still reeling over what the medicine cat apprentice had just said. Bouncepaw _liked_ Ashfur? As in like liked? No. No, no, no. That was just not possible.

Suddenly, Bouncepaw burst out laughing, falling on the forest floor and even rolling around in her state of uncontrollable giggles. "That was a good one, Leafpaw!" Bouncepaw laughed and Leafpaw shifted awkwardly on her feet.

"Maybe I wasn't joking..." Leafpaw muttered and Bouncepaw immediately froze. Leafpaw was serious?

"That's crazy, Leafpaw. Ashfur and I don't mix. We're polar opposites and it will stay that way until I'm a warrior and don't have to spend every day with him. Trust me when I say that there is no way I'll ever like Ashfur like that." Bouncepaw shrugged and tried to brush off the comment as she followed her Clanmate to a patch of flowers.

But deep in her mind, she was still wondering: _Do I like Ashfur?_

* * *

Ashfur rolled his eyes as he watched Bouncepaw storm away. She had such a short temper sometimes that she was almost unbearable to be around. "She-cats..." Ashfur grumbled under his breath as he walked through the forest with Dustpelt.

"You gotta love 'em." Dustpelt added and Ashfur shook his head.

"Just because of this experience, I don't think I'll ever truly love a she-cat." Ashfur joked but Dustpelt didn't seem to take it as one.

"Sure you will. I mean, you already have someone you love right now and-"

Ashfur stopped dead in his tracks. Off in the distance he could hear a screaming laughter but he couldn't focus on that. All he could think about were the words that his Clanmate just uttered. "What?"

"Well, you know, we've all kind of noticed how you have this strange chemistry with Bouncepaw and-" Ashfur cut him off. Dustpelt grumbled under his breath because he _really_ didn't enjoy being interrupted.

"Chemistry? I want to rip out her throat half the time! How is that chemistry?" Ashfur laughed, but there was no humour in his voice.

"Well you talk about each other all the time and even though it might not sound like it, you care about what the other thinks. Like when Bouncepaw was injured, she kept on worrying that you hated her and according to Spiderleg, she went 'all depressed and stuff' until you told her you didn't hate her. _And _not to mention how worried you were when you found out! You kept on blaming yourself, even though everyone and their mother knows it was just apprentices being stupid."

"Of course I was worried! She could have gotten herself killed! Could you imagine what would happen if she didn't make it?" Ashfur asked and Dustpelts eyes widened.

"You wouldn't be able to live without her." he played along and Ashfur nodded, falling right into Dustpelt's trap.

"Exactly- Hey! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that I had grown fond of her childish behaviour and- well, not exactly 'fond' but she's still my apprentice and-" Dustpelt swiped his tail over Ashfur's mouth, shushing him.

"Be quiet before you hurt yourself." Dustpelt slowly pulled back his tail. "Now, let's get back to hunting. We can't have your true love come back to us and we don't even have so much as a mouse to show her."

"I hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"But you sure love Bouncepaw."

"Shut up."

* * *

_Amber curled up closer to Cheshire. She had grown to start to love him. He was so much more than a friend, though she could never tell him that. To him, she was just a friend; someone to play with and spend his day teasing. She was positive that he felt no romantic connection to him. Over the past few months, as the kits grew, they changed._

_Amber started to look fuller and her eyes were brighter while Cheshire grew more muscle and his voice deepened. In the brief times that Amber saw Rusty, she noticed that he had also grown larger and much more handsome. He spent a lot of his time climbing the fence to journey a few paw steps into the forest or even just sitting up on his fence post and watching the birds sing or the prey leap from tree to tree. It was prey to him, at least. To Amber, it was simply forest animals that would occasionally run into her garden.__"Are you okay, Amber?" Cheshire's voice snapped Amber out of her thoughts. _

_"Yes, I'm fine. I've just been thinking about the past few moons and how much we've all changed. I mean, who would have thought we'd become best friends? Remember the first day we met? You yelled at me for going too close to your bike!" Amber purred at the memory. It seemed so long ago and they had come such a long way since that point. _

_"It took me a while to start to warm up to you, I'll admit. But in the end, I don't regret a single thing." Cheshire purred as he nuzzled his friend._

_Friend. That's all Amber would ever be to him. She felt her heart take a nosedive at the thought and her smile instantly dropped. She wanted more. No, she needed more. Amber wanted kits and a family with this tom but it was like he didn't even notice the way she stared at him or the love in her voice whenever she uttered even a simple word._

_"Amber? Are you sure you're okay?" Cheshire asked again and this time, she shook her head._

_"I need to tell you something." Amber's mouth dried and she took a deep breath in. It was only three words, why was it so difficult for her to say?! "I..."_

_"You...?" Cheshire urged her but Amber let out a sigh. She couldn't do it... Not now, at least._

_"I'm just not feeling too well. I think I'm going back to my housefolk now." Cheshire nodded and watched sadly as she stood up and hopped onto the fencepost and disappearing. She was such a strange cat. One second she was bouncing off the walls and the next she was looking like her entire family just got murdered._

_But that's why he loved her. Now only if her could learn how to say it._

**One down, four more stories to go...**


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